The Doctor and Kate Chronicles
by flirting-with-your-timelord
Summary: After the loss or Amy and Rory, the Doctor finds himself in London where an evil plot is at work. This is the story of traveling with new companion - Kate. 11th Doctor/OFC. Co-written with Doctorq96. 1st Installment up!
1. The Dinosaur Plot

**The Doctor and Kate Chronicles: The Dinosaur Plot**

**A/N: **This was an idea formulated by my very good friend, Stephen, who took about writing this in early August of 2011. Since then, we have co-written five other stories in this series, along with scripts, pictures, and three of those scripts filmed. Enjoy the story that started this all off!

Kate hurried back inside her kitchen and clutched a set of keys containing a small pair of pink fluffy dice, a small torch and a small LEGO man from a bowl on her table. She had decided not to follow the majority of the city to move to the countryside; she was a busy woman, she could not afford to go to the country, not while her business was reaching its peak. Her front door closed behind her as she cautiously made her way to her cream-coloured car. Kate suddenly heard a squawk; and so without delay, she quickened her pace and weaved in between broken pieces of white, pieces of wood, once belonging to her front garden fence. She had by now made her way to the pavement outside her sizable house and was sure that she could manage to reach her car a few mere feet away. Kate gritted her teeth in fear as she looked over her shoulder to find several roof tiles falling to the ground where she had been standing only moments ago.

On the top of her roof, there was one of the feared winged creatures. At first Kate looked up at the creature and the creature looked down at her. For a moment, their eyes locked, until the creature opened its beak and spread its wings. Kate took this as a warning and so she pressed her thumb against her car keys; the car bleeped and its headlights flashed as the car unlocked.

The creature was no longer on Kate's roof, but was now on her car bonnet. Kate, oblivious to this, crept into her car, started the engine and then looked up at the creature on her car. She instinctively pressed her foot down onto the pedal, and the car began to accelerate. However the winged creature had dug its claws through the bonnet and started to beat its wings as the car began to lift from the ground. Kate did not dare to glance out of her window, because the creature had lifted the car very high into the sky. She did not know what fate awaited her; however she didn't have very much time to think about it because the great beast slowly released its claws from the pierced metal and the car started to fall. Now Kate looked out of the closest window; she could see the buildings become a lot clearer as she was heading for impact.

Nothing ever happened in this side of London. At least that is what everyone thought, until the great beasts came. Before that terrible day, there had stood large houses, well-kept lawns, perfectly symmetrical gardens and roads. It was bliss, if not a little boring to live there, but essentially safe and in a sense, cozy. Now, there were over-grown lawns, with weeds and insects. The only signs of life were the half standing buildings, next to large piles of rubble. There was a garage with a flat roof and a large red door with two handles, there was a cat seemingly perched on the remains of a fence. There was a noise which suddenly spooked the cat and sent it to its hiding place; this noise was not that of a beast, but that of ancient engines heaving into life. The blue box slowly emerged out of thin air and with a thud, a man with floppy brown hair, a red bow tie and a tweed jacket took a step from his ship. The Doctor pulled up his sleeve to reveal a golden watch; he stared at the watch for a moment before tapping it and with a sigh, throwing his sleeve back down his arm. For a few minutes, the Time Lord just stood, occasionally walking around in circles attempting to assess the situation. The ground underneath his boots began to shake rhythmically until the Doctor heard an almighty roar from which he knew could only come from a dinosaur, creatures which died out millions of years ago. Not only did the Doctor, not particularly want to become dinosaur dinner, but he also wanted to get a better view of the area and so he ran back inside his TARDIS being sure to close the doors behind him.

The Time Lord bounded up the stairs to reach the glowing central glowing console. He clicked a few silver switches forward and back, before reaching for a large lever on one of the six panels. He pushed the final lever with all his strength. With a flick of a small switch, the TARDIS screen blinked on. The Doctor frowned and then began to complete a scan of the area; at the same time as the TARDIS made its way to its next destination. A familiar sound signaled to the Doctor that he and his ship were making a landing. A moment ago, the Police Public Call Box was down on a street corner, and now it was on top of a very high building. When the Time Lord made a landing, he was surprised that he had been able to fly and land the TARDIS into such a precise location. He looked outside after once again adjusting his red bow tie and pulled his tweed jacket closer around himself, after realizing that it would be cold outside. After a few seconds of hesitation, he flung open the doors and stepped through. The Doctor was expecting to see a whole city of devastation and ruin, and this is exactly what he did see, but he was not expecting to see what appeared to be a cream car falling from above him. With absolutely no sign of hesitation, the 900 year old man dashed back inside his beloved time and space ship, looked at his scanner and locked onto a spot in mid air, where he predicted the car would be in 30 seconds and he flicked more switches at high speed. The TARDIS materialized into existence at the exact same point as the car passed. Suddenly there was only one vehicle in the sky, rather than two. With an earthshaking crunch for both vehicles, the car once worth £70,000 had landed inside the TARDIS, just next to the door. The Doctor was glad that his TARDIS' desktop theme was this big; it had never been this large before. He then galloped down the steps and attempted to pull the car doors open, but his attempts were in vain, as the metal had been scrunched up on impact with the TARDIS floor. The Time Lord took out his sonic screwdriver and held down a button on setting 555B. The familiar green light glowed and whirring sound activated until the metal became weak and began to melt. The cream paint melted first, leaving the bare metal to melt until the car door could open of its own accord. There was a woman aged about 25 with her head against her steering wheel; the airbag had not even gone off. The woman wore an expensive suit and highly priced shoes. Her hair was blonde and very long and her facial features were very attractive for a human. Although the Doctor didn't have any further time to look at the woman's appearance, it was important that she was okay, because she had blood on her forehead and was trickling down the dashboard. He naturally lifted the woman and laid her on the floor. He checked she still had a pulse, before running back up his stairs and searching underneath his console for some kind of fluid.

Kate slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head. She had no idea where she was, she looked around with her vision still blurred and rubbed a small amount of blood off her forehead. There was nothing for her to focus on, until she saw the shape of a man on all fours, apparently looking for something, she assumed that he had been her kidnapper, and so decided to make a silent escape through the doors behind her. She quietly stood up, careful not to alert the man and opened one of the doors and slid herself through. She found herself on a rooftop, and so being weary of any creatures, she walked to the edge of the building to assess her location.

The Doctor wiped the hair out of his eyes and finally came across a bottle with a red substance in it, just the thing for a banged head. He stood up and glanced across the room to where the woman should have been and then saw the open door. He desperately hoped that his landing back on the rooftop had been successful. He ran outside to see the rooftop with the young lady on the edge, looking around. He sighed with relief and then realized that she would probably need a moment to absorb the situation and what had happened. At that moment, a huge winged creature flew over the top of the building. The Doctor suddenly ran out on to the roof and leapt up to knock the young woman out of the reach of the creature which had attacked her car a few minutes ago. He clutched her hand, looked at her and simply said 'Basically, run!'

The pair of them ran back into the TARDIS out of breath. The Doctor was surprised that Kate almost felt as though she needed to explain herself.

'I'm sorry, you shouldn't have needed to rescue me like that, I normally have to be more careful. And I know I should have been evacuated to the country - ' She felt like she was explaining to the authorities yet again.

'Why would you have been evacuated, because of that Archaeopteryx?' The Doctor questioned. Kate was initially shocked that this mysterious man was not aware of the evacuation process, but then she realized that this man knew what the winged creature was. Kate asked him how he knew the name of the animal.

'Well, that is what it appears to be anyway, a real Archaeopteryx wouldn't have been able to fly so high; it didn't have muscles strong enough to carry its body for very long.' The Doctor reeled off.

Kate waited for a moment and replied 'Well there aren't just those creatures; there are loads of others too.'

The Doctor looked worried for a moment before running towards the door. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned to her 'What-what's your name?' he finally got around to asking.

She brushed the hair out of her eyes, opened on of her pockets and pulled out a business card. 'Kate Robson' she stated as though reciting lines from a script 'Property planning and sales advice.' She handed the Doctor the card.

'Thanks' the Doctor said sarcastically 'I'll keep that somewhere really special' as he threw it over his shoulder.

'And who might you be?' Kate demanded.

'I might be any number of things Miss Robson, but I am the Doctor, the one and only', he snapped. After exchanging names, the pair continued outside, the Time Lord being as confident as ever. He waited for her to exit the time machine, and then turned and locked the door behind them, while checking for nearby dinosaurs simultaneously. 'You didn't ask.' He seemingly randomly stated. Kate looked back after checking for any terrible creatures and then blankly sighed. The Doctor continued his sentence, 'you didn't ask about the inside being bigger than the outside.' Kate realized what she had missed and sighed again. She had seen so much in the past couple of weeks, hardly anything would surprise her now-she just sort of went along with it. There were more questions which the Doctor wished to ask his new acquaintance, but there was plenty more time for that, instead he decided that it would be a better use of time to go on a small exploration trip. He signaled for her to follow him towards a door leading down into the building. The dirty, metal door was surrounded by health and safety warning signs. For about ten seconds the Doctor looked at these signs almost pitifully. He glanced at a sign that read "AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY"

'Aww, bless' the Doctor retorted as he reached for his sonic screwdriver in his coat pocket. The device sprung into life until the lock on the door sparked and then fell on the floor.

'That is breaking and entering!' Kate pointed out.

'No, it's sonicing and entering. Totally different' he explained. He then grabbed the filthy handle and pulled, heaving the squeaking door open.

'Listen' Kate ordered 'I can't remember how that box thing got me here, but I am going to use these stairs to get down to the ground level and get home. It was nice meeting you Doctor.'

The Doctor was rather hurt, until he realized what a surprise she would get when she wanted to use her car to get home. He decided that it would probably be a good idea to keep Kate as a friend rather than lose her completely, and so the Doctor jogged after her down the stairs. He was about to call her name when he heard a cry, not from Kate, but from a Hypsilophodon. She had made her way half way down the stairs when in front of her, ran an orange coloured dinosaur, less than a metre tall. The Doctor rushed down and put his hand over Kate's screaming mouth.

'There, it's alright' he comforted 'This is a Hypsilophodon. It was only a plant eater, look; it has short teeth as the back of its mouth for chewing leaves.'

In response, Kate said nothing but raised her arm and pointed at several dead bodies in the corner of the abandoned room.

'Well, that is two dinosaurs that I have seen with uncharacteristic characteristics - try saying that when your drunk.' The Doctor realized.

Kate pulled his hand from her face and stated worryingly. 'Never mind all that; we have got to escape from a supposed vegetarian that eats meat.'

'Yes' The Doctor continued 'The Hypsilophodon has long legs like an antelope and can run very fast.' With that, the two possible dino-dinner candidates slowly walked back up the stairs, so not to draw attention to them-selves. The dinosaur watched their every move. With no warning, the creature leapt at the two escapees, and without a moment of delay, the Doctor and Kate ran back out onto the roof, closely followed by the Hypsilophodon. Its legs leapt one in front of the other until it had cornered its prey against the edge of the roof. The Doctor knew that he couldn't make a run for the TARDIS across the roof, without the dinosaur picking one of them off. The dinosaur slowly came closer, and the Doctor whispered 'Jump!' into Kate's ear. She looked confused at the task the Doctor was asking her to fulfill. He nodded and smiled at her as if the reassure her. She smiled back, until she gasped as the Doctor pushed her off the building. He looked down at her and winked as she fell. The dinosaur was not fazed by what was happening around it. It simply took a few short steps closer to the Doctor. In response, he yet again revealed his sonic screwdriver and the sound waves were at such a frequency that it momentarily stunned the Hypsilophodon. This gave our hero enough time to make a dash for the TARDIS. He sprinted up the TARDIS steps with a sense of purpose, not forgetting to lock the doors behind him. With a sudden burst of energy, he slammed his hands onto a large red lever and turned the anti-gravity on. Almost like a professional, the Doctor landed on the side of a building in London where he had been before.

Kate was falling. She did not even know who this Doctor was or remember how they met. But then she remembered the events that had occurred that morning. She recalled what the Doctor had called an Archaeopteryx lifting her car and like flowing wet paint, the blue box's interior seemed to fill the empty space. She then realized what her fate would be as the Doctor who she had briefly trusted, pushed her off the rooftop. Kate brought herself to turn around to see the floor becoming closer and close and very fast! Without warning a recognizable noise, the TARDIS arrived to perch on the side of the building below her. Kate braced herself for impact, but in fact, she need not have worried, because a second after she skillfully aimed for the doors was she walking into the TARDIS. She looked behind her out of the doors and could see the dinosaur above them on the roof. And at last she saw the Doctor looking impressed with himself, with a look on his face that seemed to say "I told you everything would be alright" She could trust him again. The very next thing that she did surprised her as much as it did the Doctor. For no sooner had she realized what had happened to her, was she bounding up the TARDIS steps, similarly to how the Doctor did and threw her arms around him. As a delayed reaction, he softly put his arms around her, hoping to put her mind at rest. However Kate did not have much time to rest, as the Doctor unwrapped her arms and pushed her gently onto a yellow, leather chair.

'Now then Kate' The Doctor began, as he affectionately touched her nose. 'Tell me all about it.'

She took a deep breath and began to explain to the wise man about how it had all started about two months ago. She had been on her way to work on a chilly Monday morning, when every television and radio channel was interrupted by an emergency broadcast. The broadcast detailed how in the centre of London, there was a massive light orb, that grew in size over the course of the brisk morning. The orb grew until it was big enough for someone or something to fit through. Kate explained how the first thing to enter through the orb was a Tyrannosaurus Rex, which killed several people within the first few minutes of it living in 2011. This monster was closely followed by several white, silver and red striped Velociraptors.

The Doctor stopped Kate while she was half way through her sentence, by leaping to his feet and swinging the monitor around to face him. 'Now Kate, when I first arrived, I completed a scan of the area.' He revealed as he fiddled with the multi-coloured keypad.

Kate nodded in acknowledgement and asked 'So what does it show?'

The Doctor scratched his chin and wiped his brown floppy hair out of his eyes. 'Well' He said slowly while still getting to grips with what was showing on the screen. 'We have a problem.'

The Doctors exhausted companion panted 'Oh don't tell me that there are going to be more dinosaurs with complicated names.'

The Doctor shook his head, still maintaining his worried look. 'No' he stated as fact 'but the trouble is that these, so called dinosaurs are breeding like rabbits.' The Doctor scratched his chin again and pointed at the screen, showing that within this short space of time, at least 20 dinosaurs had appeared on the screen.

'So what do we do now?' She asked after a moment of silence.

As if in response, the Doctor flung his arm forward and began to turn dials and push levers, before saying 'Where it all began, as a white orb in central London.'

The TARDIS materialized in the middle of a main road, but it did not matter as traffic levels were at an all-time low. The Doctor in Kate took a few steps out of the TARDIS to see a bright light directly in front of them.

'Be careful, don't even touch it.' The Doctor very quickly recommended.

Kate took his advice and asked 'So, what is this, a portal to the past?'

The Doctor nodded and calmly said in a chilling voice 'Or it could be a whole lot worse than that.'

Kate looked worried 'How are we going to find out where it leads to?' She questioned.

The Doctor thought for a moment then said 'Follow me if you dare.' It was time for the Doctor to find out how adventurous, brave and frankly mad Kate really was. The Doctor repeated his last statement and dipped one finger through to orb portal, in the same way that someone might dip a toe in a cold swimming pool to test its temperature. All of a sudden he glowed as white as the portal itself until his body disintegrated into millions of white orbs that scattered and flew into the portal and the area where the Doctor once stood, showed no signs of him ever being there. Kate honestly had no idea what to do, and so she just clamped her eyes shut and plunged her whole hand into the orb and hoped for the best. Just as the Doctor had, Kate began to glow white and turned into bright particles and flew into the bright light.

Kate was expecting to end up in a distant beach, with no plant life and countless dinosaurs. Instead, she appeared inside what seemed to be a huge cage, the size of several warehouses. The roof of this cage was easily 30 metres high, and even further across. This cage was in fact inside a spaceship. It was classically what people what would imagine science fiction space ships to look like. It was shiny and all silver, with many lights and gadgets all in perfect working order. She looked around and began to fall over, when the Doctor supported her and then walked towards the cold shining bars; he hated the idea of any creature being shoved somewhere against its will, that is why he hated the zoo. Kate could see that the Doctor was feeling emotional and so instead of saying anything, she simply pointed towards two massive cage doors. He suddenly snapped out of his emotional barrier and softly smiled at Kate and held his hand out. She held his hand tight and the pair of them ran towards the doors. They arrived at the gate.

'Let me guess' predicted Kate, still getting her breath back 'the gate is locked.'

'Oh, almost definitely' teased the Doctor, as he flicked his sonic screwdriver to his hand. About 10 seconds later, the towering gates slowly swung open. Not very much time after that, the Doctor approached the control panel surrounded by mini screens and one over-sized screen attached to the ceiling. The Doctor laid his screwdriver on a ledge before he flicked switches, pulled levers and read dials.

Without warning he announced 'This is it!'

This made Kate jump, and ask 'This is what, exactly?'

'With this machine' the Doctor clarified 'someone has picked up lots of dinosaurs from the past-'

'Hence the big cage?' Kate suggested.

'Exactly right' he realized. 'But' he continued 'then the mastermind genetically altered them so the plant eating dinosaurs would like meat. It also made some have traits and destructive abilities; a bit like the flying dinosaur and the one on the roof too. Except we need to find out who is doing this and why.'

There was a corner of the room in the ship which was not well lit. There was a booming voice from this corner which made the Doctor and Kate turn immediately. 'Doctor, you were not really far wrong, when you said mastermind.'

'Come out!' the Doctor shouted 'Only a madman talks to thin air, and you really don't want to make me mad!'

'Would that be a threat Doctor?' the mysterious voice chuckled in a dark manor. Out of the shadows, emerged a familiar figure wearing a white shirt, black tie, jacket and shoes. The figure carried a staff and had short, brown hair.

The Doctor reaction to this man's identity was one of pure shock. 'The Master, I really should have known.'

Kate looked at the figure and then up at the Doctor 'Who is the Master, is he behind all of this?' she quietly asked the Doctor.

'She asks many questions doesn't she?' Overheard the Master. 'Maybe it is time to silence her at last.' The Master tipped his staff to face Kate and the end glowed a blinding orange, before the Doctor grabbed his sonic from the ledge and used it to lower the power of the cane, before fitting it in his pocket. The Doctor began to move forwards to help his companion, who had fallen to the ground in pain of the weakened shock. The Master aimed his staff at his enemy and threatened. 'Take one step closer and you will suffer the same fate.'

'So' the Doctor started, as though attempting to begin a conversation with the girlfriend's parents. 'So, same old taking over Earth thing then, well South London. But dinosaurs, really?'

The Master took the criticism in his stride and continued the conversation. 'Good isn't it? I did think about genetically editing them to look like dragons, but I thought that it might be a bit over-kill. But I hear you ask why, because I trapped Rassilon in the Time War again, shortly after you regenerated, and I did what no one else on Gallifrey could do, I grew a TARDIS.

The Doctor ran his hands through his hair and began to understand. 'But' he wondered 'what is in it for you? You make a war planet with super dinosaurs battling each other, but then what?'

'Ah Doctor.' Explained the Time Lord patronizingly. 'I haven't just created a war planet to fight among themselves, I have made a war planet to battle other worlds. Dinosaurs were just the start, other evil, powerful, genetically modified beings can be made, and I thought that I might continue with a Time Lord. Another ruthless, heartless Time Lord to assist me. But now you have no choice.'

The Doctor was not surprised by the Masters evil plans, he had attempted worse. The Master wanted to change him to make him more like the Master in nature. The Doctor backed away from the cell; however the Master fired a small warning shot from his cane. The Doctor extremely reluctantly, slowly walked into the huge cage where dinosaurs had been trapped and engineered like the Doctor was about to be. The Master, still holding the cane, closed the heavy cage doors and locked them with unbelievable glee. He walked back past Kate's unconscious body on the floor and rested his hand on a red pad, fitted to his hand shape. A red force field activated around the Doctors cage. He rested his hand on a second blue pad and the Doctor fell over in pain, clutching his stomach. Kate's eyes fluttered open but she was unable to move any part of her body. The Master gently pressed his hand against a green pad and the Doctor started behaving like a fish out of water, flapping around, trying in vain to gain some kind of control. Kate began to feel a twinge in her left foot, but felt useless when she saw the Doctor in such pain. The Master laughed and merrily pressed buttons. Kate had seen the same look of glee when she saw the Doctor help _save_ the world, not destroy it.

The Master continued touching pads and every few seconds glancing up at a screen. Kate felt another twinge in both legs. She built up enough courage to use both her legs against the villain; she simultaneously put on leg across his shins and another behind his feet. She pulled to two legs together causing the Master to fall to the ground after hitting his head on the controls. All of a sudden Kate launched forward so she was sitting upright; it must have been the adrenalin building up inside her. She stood up and ran over to the cage 'Doctor, what I do?' she shouted.

The Doctor managed to force some words out. 'Put-your-hand-on-the-red-one!' He forced out, occasionally stopping in pain.

'What does it do?' Kate cried as she looked at the pad, then back at the Doctor.

He struggled and pushed out a few more words 'An-undo-button'

Without any further questions, she looked at the controls to find that there were around 5 red pads. She didn't want to ask any more questions as the Doctor was in such pain and so she slammed her hand against the closest red pad to her. The spaceship shook and then the red force field dissolved, and as if to replace it, red warning lights flashed. The Doctor fell to the floor in the cage, recovering.

'I did it!' She exclaimed as the Doctor slowly used his sonic screwdriver to open the cage and she threw her arms around him again.

'Yeah' he said in the same tone 'you did, but that wasn't the right one, you disabled the engine, hence the warning light.'

The Doctor held her tighter to comfort her and stated 'Oh yeah. This ship is going to crash into the nearest unpopulated planet, but we will be okay.' The Doctor held Kate's hand as they ran back into the cage and towards the fading white portal, followed slowly by the injured Master. The Doctor slowed down and smiled at Kate as he guided her through the portal. By now the spaceship was really beginning to shake. The Doctor ran back at full speed towards the Master.

'Come with me.' He shouted over the noise of the creaking metal. The Master put his arm around the Doctors shoulder as they limped towards the white light. Metal was coming loose and falling; a scrap fell from the height of the cage followed by bigger chunks of very heavy material now catching fire as the ship passed through the unpopulated planet's atmosphere. These large chunks landed next to the escaping enemies which caused the Master to lose grip of the Doctors shoulder to avoid being hit. The rubble piled high, separating the two. The Master began the climb the mound and the Doctor waited anxiously at the base. The white light was fading considerably, but the Doctor refused to leave the other Time Lord. Kate took the Doctor by surprise by running back through the portal and dragging the Doctor through with her.

The pair dissolved into white particles and reassembled in London just as the portal closed and the ship made its impact. The first thing that the Doctor noticed was that everything was back to normal. There were cars beeping their horns at the blue police box in the middle of the road. The two survivors ran into the TARDIS and it faded away.

'Why are the dinosaurs gone?' Kate questioned.

'They were stripped of abnormalities and sent back to their own time. After the Masters ship crashed everything was reset.' The Doctors finished.

'Did the Master die, Doctor? Kate asked considerately.

'Oh, I am sure that he will pop up again soon enough.' The Doctor said with mixed emotions. 'So all of space and time, how about it?'

They both smiled and the Doctor began to throw levers in a familiar way, and the Police Box darted around the time tunnels on its way to their next destination. Let the adventures begin.

Written: 13/8/11


	2. It Will Be Over By Christmas

It will be over by Christmas. That's all the recruiting soldiers ever said, especially Tom, who was always an optimist. But even for Tom, it was difficult to be optimistic with so many soldiers being killed every day, and with the trench conditions being worse than anyone ever expected. He remembered seeing a cigarette packet back home, which had a cartoon of several British soldiers casually sitting on the top of the trench, smiling, smoking and holding a pair of binoculars. Tom now realised how idealistic it all was, and how if only he had been able to sneak a pair of binoculars over the top of the trench and not have it shot within seconds, then it would be a vast improvement.  
But even the conditions in the trenches normally were nothing compared to the conditions in the trenches at winter. Tom and his fellow comrades only had one uniform and very little else. When they received a newspaper, Tom would grab it and stick it up his jumper for an extra layer of warmth. They even considered burning the ladders at one point; every man there just wished for warmth. The frozen muddy water froze into icicles hanging from every ledge, the flooring was slippery under foot, and especially with the boots that every man wore that provided no grip.  
The large majority of the men in that area of the trenches were huddled next to each other, without even a fire to keep them warm. Tom stood up as he heard a strange noise; he took out his knife and clutched his gas mask in case of an air attack and he continued to advise everyone to do likewise. There was a vague blue light hovering in the air, until the outline of a box became visible, the men shielded their eyes momentarily as they adjusted to the bright light of the box.

'Right, did you mention the beach?' The Doctor asked as he slid along the glass flooring of the TARDIS.  
Kate nodded, smiling immensely.  
'In that case' The Doctor teased, 'pull that lever there, and we will arrive.'  
Kate fumbled for a lever and tugged it towards her, which caused the familiar groaning noise of the engine to begin.  
'Here we go, not just a beach, it is the planet Moxena 4, which is a planet entirely made of sand and sea, with three suns at just the right temperature to get the perfect tan.'  
Kate grabbed her purple towel from the railing and rushed towards the door. 'You do this all the time, I want to open them this time' she ordered grinning.  
The Doctor slammed his hand down on a button, and lifted his hand to show her it was safe to leave the TARDIS. She flung her towel over her shoulder and slowly eased the door open, still looking at the Doctor, she took a step out of the door, and her bare foot crunched in the snow, she quickly withdrew her foot with no hesitation and held it in the pain of the unexpected snow.  
'You said the beach, not Antarctica!' Kate moaned while holding her foot.  
The Doctor gritted his teeth and ran towards Kate, apologising and ushering her back into the warm.  
'Sorry' he yelled, trying not to laugh, 'and actually it's not Antarctica.'  
'Well wherever it is, its freezing' Kate continued to moan.  
'Its…it's…its' The Doctor stuttered, shocked, 'Its 1914, the first world war and Christmas time. Now this definitely is a fixed point and so we should really leave.'  
'Oh but Doctor, I studied History for GCSEs, it was the only topic I was any good at, please can we just peak?' She reasoned.  
The Time Lord sighed and began to slowly nod 'Okay, fine, but just for a little while.'  
Kate also nodded 'But after I have put some clothes on first.'

Kate emerged from the TARDIS staircase fully clothed, wrapped up in a big white fur coat. 'Come on then dopey' she teased, let's get going.'  
The Doctor smiled falsely and then reasoned 'Don't you think it might be a bit odd, soldiers in a trench see a police box appear, which haven't even been invented yet and seen a half-naked girl step out into the snow then reappear with a fur coat and an incredibly attractive man in a bow tie. What do you think will be going through their minds?'  
Kate chuckled and then shrugged her shoulders before opening one of the doors. The Time Lord beckoned for her to come back in. She refused and just stood in front of the soldiers. The Doctor very quickly ran after her closing the door behind him.  
They just stood there for a few seconds with guns pointing at them. The 900 year old man leaned over to Kate and whispered 'That was an incredibly stupid thing to do!'  
Kate looked apologetically up at him and then back at the soldiers, she wanted to get them out of all this trouble and so went to speak, before the Doctor stood in front of her and quickly said 'Well done chaps, that's what we like to see isn't is Kate?'  
She was stunned before adding in a very "posh" voice 'Oh yes absolutely, top hole!'  
'No don't do that' he whispered and flipped out his psychic paper 'I am Captain…Smith, and this is my driver Kate.' The soldiers just stood for a minute, their positions unchanged. 'Well at ease men' He said hoping for it to work.  
And so the soldiers dropped their guns to the side and put their gas masks in a cubby hole before awaiting the Doctor to talk again.  
The Doctor realised that he was now supposed to be in charge of these men, and so said in an almost guessing manner 'As you were men?'  
At which the men all sat around a rickety table and pulled their jackets closer to them.

The Doctor and Kate were still stood in front of the TARDIS.  
'You wait here a minute' The Doctor said pointing at a man standing on his own I'm just going to talk to that man for a minute, see if he can fill me in.'  
Kate nodded and stood for a few seconds before becoming bored and talking to the rest of the men.

Tom sipped up the last of his cold, dirty water, when a man in a bow tie made him jump.  
'Hello, how can I help you sir' Tom asked.  
'Well I had a bump on the head on the way over, totally lost' he lied, pretending to rub his head 'what date is it?'  
Tom frowned at him, 'I don't know, we don't keep count anymore, each day is just another day of cold and extreme boredom.'  
The Doctor patted him on the shoulder and was about the open his mouth to speak, when he heard one of the men shout from the table. 'Who on earth is Adolf Hitler?'  
The Doctor ran over to the table and rushed to Kate 'what are you saying, Hitler was world war two, I thought you said you took History GCSE?!'  
'Never said I passed did I?' She said cheekily.  
The Doctor couldn't help but smile before running over to the table again 'Sorry about that, old chaps, the driver is a bit dazed, it's the cold I think.' He sighed with relief when he saw the men generally discard the name and turn back around to join the conversation.

Night fell quickly, the Doctor and Kate unable to leave due to the TARDIS refusing to take off.  
'So' Kate queried while shivering 'can I ask again why we can't leave?'  
'And I will tell you again that I don't know, it won't budge, so it looks like we are stuck here for now, and personally I'm blaming it on you.' He snapped.  
Kate huddled a little closer to the Doctor, who was leant against a piece of wood.  
'Well, I'm sorry for wanted to see some real history. Not just some planet that no-ones ever heard of. You know something that I can actually tell people about?' Kate said, leaning slightly away from him. He was strangely attractive, in a bubbly, charismatic sort of way. She knew she shouldn't think about him like this; she'd only met him a few weeks ago – or technically 97 years in the future, but the point still stands. He invited her along, showed her other universes, creatures, and societies, things beyond her imagination. She thought back to the sandy planes of Tatooine; the flower-covered forests of Floreo; and the deep caves of Repastine, holding mysterious glowing creatures allergic to sunlight.  
'Kate, would you mind, you're holding on to my arm rather painfully!' The Doctor said, pulling his arm away from the tight grip of her fingers.  
'Mm? What? Oh, sorry Doctor. I was off in another world, and for once, that statement isn't true' Kate replied, blushing under his gaze.  
'Are you alright, Kate? You seem to have a lot on your mind?' The Doctor said, sending a worrying glance in her direction. He knew he felt different towards her, something more than he'd shared with the other companions. Something he wished to stay buried something he hadn't felt before the Time War. Both their eyes met for a short while, the Doctor even managed a smile before he briskly hopped up, adjusted his bow tie and wiped his hair.  
'We should umm, go and see how Tom is doing, I promised him a cuppa from the TARDIS kettle.'  
Kate also nodded her head, and as soon as the Doctor was out of view around the corner, she hit her head gently against the wood, so shocked with her actions.

The Doctor stopped hitting his head gently against the wood after talking to Kate and went in search of Tom and the other soldiers; after all, they shouldn't be that hard to find in a narrow trench. Kate hurried after him and walked next to him as he darted his head around similar to a dog, making her silently smile. However the smile was swiftly wiped from her face as she heard a noise from behind some sacks and barrels abandoned in the corner.  
'Doctor, did you hear that?' she asked, with a quiver of fear in her voice.  
The Doctor answered 'Yes, probably just rats, very common in the trenches.' He carried on walking in the near pitch black conditions.  
'It wasn't a rat, it was a kind of whirring noise, rats don't whir, at least rats in 2011 don't anyway.' She walked slowly towards the sacks, noticing out of the corner of her eye that the Doctor continued to fade into the darkness ahead. She was about to run after him when she head another whirring noise. She leaned over and attempted to open a barrel when she saw something glisten in the dark, she reached her hand down into the dark and all four of her fingers were pinched by something, she lifted her hand to find some kind of metal rat biting onto her hand. She gasped, unable to scream and shook her hand violently to try and get the creature off, however it gripped onto her hand tighter than ever and refused to release her. Kate grabbed the monster in her other hand and squeezed so tight, when the rat sparked and fell to the ground, she had no idea that she was so strong, until she realised that the Doctor was behind her putting his sonic screwdriver back in his pocket. Kate went to thank him, when he dropped to the snowy floor in an almost press ups position and held what he revealed to be a cybermat.  
'Ooh, very nasty' he said quietly, returning to his feet and brushing the snow from his trousers.  
'What is it?' She wondered.  
The Doctor looked her in the eyes and said in a look that he only used when worried or in danger, 'Cybermats, which means somewhere there is at least one cyberman, maybe more. Come on we have to find Tom.'

Just as the Doctor finished his sentence, Tom came running around the corner out of breath 'What's all the noise about then?' he asked.  
'Oh not much, I just umm….slipped over, that's all, that's why my knees have snow on them.' The Doctor lied. 'Kate' The Time Lord snapped, 'go and make Tom and his comrades a nice cuppa tea would you, from our _shed_? I am just going to stay here for a bit.'  
'Yes sir!' She said as she rolled her eyes and walked towards the TARDIS.

The Doctor waited until they were out of sight, and got his sonic screwdriver out to scan the area, it registered 3 other cyber life forms. He was about to put his screwdriver away when it made a strange beeping noise, indicating to the Doctor more information. Slowly, he walked towards a muddy wall covered with planks of wood. He yanked some parts off, but it was too noisy and may draw attention, so he used his sonic screwdriver to unscrew them. There was no sign of a way through the mud, and so they only thing that he could think to do was to heat the mud, again with his sonic. Within 30 seconds, mud was pouring into his lap as he slowly made his way through the mud. If only he had thought of using his TARDIS. When the mud came to his neck, he had to trust his instincts, and so he held his breath and sunk into the mud. Seconds later, he emerged the other side of the mud, but it was dark, so very dark. He used his hands to wipe mud out of his eyes and reached inside his thankfully dirt free pockets and fumbled upon a small lighter. He clicked it on and used the light to freeze the mud back behind him. When the Doctor turned around, mud dripping from everywhere, he saw a completely hollow space, about the size of a large sports hall, running underneath no-man's land. He slowly stood up and walked further into the area, containing a relatively small space craft, although in ruins. The Doctor made his way to what appeared to be a ladder on the side of the ship, although missing some rungs; he climbed up it onto the roof of the ship. Carefully he walked across the roof until he came upon a hatch of some kind, leading into the air vents.  
Moments later the Doctor was shuffling as quietly as he could through the metal air vents, only just big enough to move in. Suddenly, the vent creaked, groaned and then gave way, plunging the Doctor into a room in the ship, hitting the floor hard among mud, dust and scrap metal. He glanced around him, taking in the new surroundings. It was dark, damp, and a deep whirring noise was coming from behind him, a whirring noise he recognised. He turned, on his hands and knees, and saw a body, a metal body, leaning lightly against a damaged pillar. Scratches and dents ran over the body, and armour, metal hand lay motionless on the floor. The ship must have crashed here some time ago, damaging the metal people inside. Yet they weren't really people, they were Cybermen.

'Hello Doctor' said the lone cyberman, his voice whining and damaged.  
'What are you doing back on Earth? I thought I told you to stay away.' The Doctor whispered dangerously low. The last time he had encountered cybermen, he had blown up half of them, accidently of course. After nearly converting a fifth of the population of the United Kingdom, they had to be stopped. He told them never return, or the rest of them would be killed.

'You really think we were going to listen to you? You and your flirty companions and little blue box? You know nothing of the power we hold!' the Cyberman said, his voice cutting out half way through.  
'Don't speak about power; don't speak about my companion, my friends. You're sitting here in a crashed spaceship, with obviously most of your occupants destroyed, and you are damaged yourself. What power do you have?' the Doctor replied, taking a careful step forward.  
'That is not something you need to know. After all, you wouldn't want dear little Kate to be hurt.' The lonesome metal body said, his eyes starting to glow brightly.  
'If you hurt her, you are…' The time lord trailed off, he couldn't bear to say the word. The word that haunted him for the last 300 years, the word that reminded him of what he lost, what he missed.  
'You still cut up about your dear family? The dear family you lost 300 years ago, the family that never really loved you, that never really missed you when you were gone.' The Cyberman bent down and picked up his hand, reattaching it, sparks flying.  
'You know nothing of them, of what I live with, of what I miss every single day' He punctuated the words, both anger and sorrow shining through in his voice.  
'You won't miss them for long though. You belong to us' The Cyberman said, the metal of his foot hitting the metal floor as he marched. His newly restored hand raised and sparks like lightning flowed through the digits.  
'Delete!'

Kate reluctantly went out of the TARDIS, closing the door behind her with her foot; she had several flasks of tea wrapped in her arms. She slowly made her way to the very dimly lit table, attempting not to drop them, and placed them one by one on the wobbly surface. 'Right, get a plastic cup each, if you want any more ask me.'  
The men would have replied if they didn't already have a plastic cup to their lips, grateful for each drop. She brushed the wood and sat down with them and took a plastic cup herself, nervous about where the Doctor was, longing to find him, but she knew that he would not approve.

The Doctors eyes opened slowly, feeling his aches and pains in his arms and legs, as well as the dried, flaky dirt all over him. He attempted to move his arm, when he realised that it was clamped to the surface by a single metal catch; as were his other three limbs. He shook his head violently in a rage. His coat was thrown on the floor, and with it, his sonic screwdriver. He felt almost naked without it, he tried the move his whole body again, but all he succeeded in doing was making his braces slip down his chest towards his arms, which just irritated him. As the anger built up inside him, he looked around for the cyberman, when a door in front of him slid open as 6 cybermen, shining and fully polished stomped around him. He looked up at them all surrounding him, and yelled 'What do you want!'  
The original metal man, still rusting and missing a finger, replied in a monotone voice 'You, Doctor, we want you. We crashed here many years ago under the ground, and we were frozen by the split liquid nitrogen tanks. The body heat of the toy soldiers has been slowly bringing us back to consciousness.'  
'Oh, consciousness is that what you call it. Nicking the heat from above, no wonder the soldiers are so cold. You can't leave now, there is a battle above.' The Doctor argued.  
'We need your brain Doctor, it is superior to ours.' The Cyberman retorted.  
'Well thank you' He replied. 'But no-can-do, I need to get back to the men, so if you would mind.'  
One cyberman turned to the other and they all put a fist on their chest. A red beam flickered on, as innocently as a night light, but as deadly as fire. The thin beam slowly made its way up, the Doctor quickly separated his legs as far as he could, to avoid them getting frazzled. The cybermen left the room one by one to work on the ship only the rusty one remained to watch. It let the Doctor struggle as it knew that there was no way out, and that once the laser reached his brain, it would harness the power. The red beam slowly went in between his legs, and went past his knees. The cyberman still stood there unchanged, almost taking a perverse pleasure in watching the Doctor struggle for his life. The Time Lord was desperate; he even attempted in vain to blow the beam the other way for a few valuable seconds, before even trying to reason with the cyberman, which failed miserably. The beam now began to split his trousers in between his legs. The Doctor finally slammed his head against the metal floor: he had given up.  
There was a loud bang, and then another. The cyberman turned its head as Kate and Tom barged through an open door. The cyberman lifted its arm to fire a bolt of electricity as Tom fired three shots into its chest plate. The metal man fell to the ground with a crash.  
'The others will have heard that!' The Doctor cried, signalling them to work faster. He nodded towards his sonic and Kate held down the button on each of his arms and legs until the Doctor quickly scuttled to safety, with a large hole in his trousers.  
'Thank you, but how did you get in?' He realised.  
Kate just clutched his arm and ran towards the door, the alarm went off, and Tom panicked.  
'They know you are here' The Doctor gasped, as they began to run towards a door. 'Must it always end with explosions' he sighed as he grabbed three grenades from Tom's belt and ran back into a room, leaving Kate and Tom to run to safety. He threw the grenades into a gas tank and ran to try and catch the two up.

'You won't hear a thing above ground' The Doctor explained as the spaceship exploded into shards and then settled. He now pondered upon the conversation about emotions that he had with the cyberman earlier, and how the emotion that he hated most, that he felt now…was guilt. He turned to Kate and they hugged, and they both shook Tom's hand.  
'So the Germans new weapons were they?' He asked, clueless.  
The Doctor and Kate just looked to each other, smiled and both nodded.  
'So how did you get down here?' The Doctor asked again.  
'We used shovels, doesn't get you anywhere near as dirty as a sonic screwdriver.' Kate giggled.  
The Doctor looked horrified for a moment 'My screwdriver!'  
Kate smiled again and took his screwdriver out from her pocket. 'I grabbed it on the way out, but sorry your jacket didn't make it' she teased.  
The Doctor tapped her on the nose affectionately and exclaimed 'Oh, it's now!' as he looked at his watch and hurried them back to the surface.

'IT'S CHRISTMAS!' The Doctor shouted, as he held up a sign 4 hours later on the Christmas morning reading "Merry Christmas" in big letters. The Germans had also done the same. Tom looked at the Doctor unconvinced.  
'Go on Tom, trust me' he said and he ushered him over the top of the trench. There was no firing. He and another soldier walked with their hands above their heads into no-mans-land, just the two of them. Two German soldiers had also begun to do the same. They met in the middle and shook hands. And all of the other German and British soldiers gained confidence and trust, threw their weapons to the ground and clambered over the top towards everyone else. The company commander looked up at what was happening, strode towards the Doctor and glared him in the face in disgrace; the Doctor just smiled. The commander ran above the trench still armed and attempted to get the soldiers back into the trenches, but by then it was too late, they were all already out. He gave up and threw his guns down too.

'This happens until midnight, they talk, play football, share beer, boxing day they go back into their trenches, but still do not fire a shot, they even talk to each other over the trenches.' The Doctor explained to Kate.  
'It's so sad, all of this.' She said, her head against his filthy shoulder, but she didn't care.  
'Yes I know' he said sympathetically. 'We need to go somewhere to cheer you up, how about Villenyard, biggest banana plant this side of the galaxy. Or Saturnyne, big fish creatures, up to you.'  
They continued to chat when they reached the TARDIS, before the Doctor closed the door, he leant out and saw Tom drinking a glass of beer, and he looked back before the door closed and the blue box faded.  
Behind the square indent in the snow, there were candles to keep them and tweed jackets in case they needed to keep warm. There was a label attached "From the Doctor"

'Nice touch I thought, the jackets and candles, I mean they will never wear them, but it's the thought that counts.' The Doctor reeled off, as he flicked switches and turned dials.  
Kate sat down on a spongy chair, still a bit depressed, and huddled in her big, now dirty fur coat.  
The Doctor was still plastered in mud, and so took off his bow tie and braces, feeling uncomfortable 'Won't be a tick, just going up for a quick soak.' He called behind him trotting up the stairs.  
Kate quickly stood up 'Oh Doctor, wait, I want to talk to you.'  
The Time Lord spun on the spot and bounced back down the steps, happy to talk, now leaning against the console.  
'Yes , Kate?' The Doctor replied, a hint of worry in his eyes. It all happened so fast. She pushed herself against him, gently placing her lips on his. Her hands found their way to the lapels of his jacket, pulling gently. Surprising Kate, the Doctor returned the kiss, although cautiously. A small moan escaped her, which brought him back to his senses. He was suddenly over a metre away from her, running his hand through his dark brown hair.  
'Kate… We shouldn't have done that.' He said nervously, carefully adjusting his bowtie. Kate looked at him, hurt filling her eyes.  
'Why? You returned it! You obviously wanted to!' Kate said, bitterness spiked in her voice.  
'You ask why? I'm a time lord! I'm 923 years old, and you're only 17! That's a whole other meaning of age difference!' The Doctor said, his conflicting feelings showing. He liked her, he really did. She was witty, funny, kind of cute, but she was Kate, a human, a mere 17 year old girl from Westbury High School.  
'I don't give a damn about your age! You look like you're 20! My parents are 10 years apart!' Kate said, her voice getting louder by each word.  
'Do you know what happened to me 300 years ago? I lost my family, I lost my wife, my children. I lost my world, my home, and everything I knew. I have a terrible past, I've done terrible things. Could you be with someone who has so much power, so much time on his hands?!' He said, consciously look at her.  
'Yes. I could.' Kate replied simply. She took a careful step forward, testing how he would react. He footsteps were the only noise in the control room, minus the deep rumble of the TARDIS interior. He glanced around the room, not wishing to look into her eyes. He shouldn't feel this way, but he does, and for once, he should have a little happiness. He moved towards her, wrapping his arms around and breathing deep into her hair. It smelt of strawberries and cream; so much like Kate.


	3. Lords and Masters

The night was a dark, cold, frosty night. The wind was blowing hard.  
'Never look me in the face again! Speak not! Reply not! Do not answer me!' The Baron Whitehall yelled at the top of his voice, his face beginning to go red and almost swell with the anger within him. He stormed out of the room, slamming the oak door behind him. The stone corridor seemed to stretch for miles. His shoes clapped against the stone slabs. Whitehall lifted his arm and clicked his fingers. Out of thin air, signalled by the clicking of the fingers, two entities appeared following the baron. The Baron stopped and spun around on the spot, his fine furs clinging to his back. He sharply pointed his fat, chunky finger at both of the apparitions.  
'Now Lord Ponsemby does not agree with our plans. It would seem that we need to _replace_ him too. Do not make it too painful, he has not always been so interfering.'

'Doctor, can't we go to somewhere historical? With no monsters, or aliens, or emotion-lacking metal men?' Kate said, her legs swinging as she perched on the TARDIS console. It had been 2 weeks since the Trenches, and she was starting to get bored. She watched the Doctor walk around, surveying parts of the TARDIS and mumbling to himself. He hadn't seem to have heard her; he often got lost in his own little world, his 900 year old brain whizzing away, coming up with something fantastic.  
'Doctor!' She shouted, jumping off the console and poking him hard in the shoulder.  
'Sorry, yes Kate, what do you want?' The Doctor said, finally noticing her standing there, obviously waiting for an answer. He had, unfortunately, missed the question; thinking about how the TARDIS' telepathic field could increase its atmospheric excitation, therefore resulting in a more stable 'Emergency Program One'. He looked at Kate blankly, not remembering anything she'd said in the last 5 minutes.  
'Historical, aliens, metal men? Did you hear anything I just said?' Kate groaned, forced into having to repeat herself.  
'Can we please go to somewhere historical, without the problem of monsters, aliens, cybermen, extra-terrestrial beings, E.T, whatever – just a completely safe place' She said, forcing herself to keep calm.  
'Well why didn't you just say so? After all, we are in a time machine.' The Doctor said, noticing how Kate was getting frustrated. He twisted a few knobs, hit a few buttons, pulled at the levers on the pinball machine, and the TARDIS came to a halt with the low, metallic bang.

The squeaky door swung open, it was surrounded by a grassy hill.  
'Welcome Kate, welcome to Arundel castle.' The Doctor proudly exclaimed, throwing his arms open.  
Kate followed him out onto the green grass, and her excited grin turned immediately into a slight confused frown.  
'Where?' She asked, mildly disappointed.  
The Doctor sighed and turned to her 'Oh come on, Arundel castle, in Essex. It is one of the many haunted castles in England. Has a ghost, nicknamed "_The Blue Man". _He is seen browsing the books in the castle library. Now that is my kind of ghost. Come on.' He closed the blue door behind him and began to walk up the hill, signalling for Kate to follow him. She trotted faster to catch up, and she linked her arm with his. The Doctor turned to look at her confused, but then continued to make his way to the castle. The two walked linking arms towards the battlements.  
As they approached the castle, the drawbridge opened, releasing four armed soldiers marching towards The Doctor and Kate. The first man dressed in full metal armour reached the two time travellers, and stopped to address them.  
'Halt! Who are you? We have had enough trouble here already. We do not need you and your hideous wench causing any more trouble. What exactly are your intentions?' The knight harshly questioned.  
The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and showed it to him 'How very dare you, you insolent young man, I am Lord-'  
'Doctor' Kate interrupted.  
The Time Lord turned and scowled. 'She means that I am a man of medicines, my name is Lord…Pond. Now, you rude insignificant adolescent, introduce us to the masters of this castle.'  
The soldier looked nervous, wiped his forehead and led them through the main entrance of the keep.  
'Welcome to our humble kingdom my Lord. My name is Knight Washingley. Should you wish to know any more information about the castle, my hut is over there.' The knight offered as he pointed to a modest hut, brown, with a roof of straw.  
The Doctor nodded and continued to walk, leaving Washingley behind.  
'Kate, I want you to stay with Washingley, find out what trouble the castle has had already.'  
She gave a false smile and skipped over to the knight in shining armour and continued to talk to him.  
The Doctor looked around to check that no one was watching him, and slipped out his sonic screwdriver, and held down the button on setting 746AB. The green light glowed and the familiar noise triggered on. He flicked it up, so that the claw extended, his face almost lit up with excitement. He tucked his screwdriver back in his pocket, flicked his hair out of his face, grinned and began to run towards the battlements, his tweed coat flailing behind him.

'I say, take Lord Ponsemby out into the battlements this night, and let him fall the great distance to the ground, as punishment. And if he is to survive the fall, then let him be hung, drawn and quartered for his annoyance.' Baron Whitehall ordered as he pointed his chunky finger at the Lord.  
Ponsemby shook his head in despair 'Please, have mercy! I did not do anything wrong!'  
The Baron paused, and leant forward in his chair before hauling himself up. He walked up to Ponsemby who was on his knees. The Baron leant over Lord Ponsemby, his ginger beard touching the top of his head, and his bad breath almost making him gag. Whitehall whispered into his ear 'I know, I know you haven't done a thing wrong, which is why you are going to be killed in secret. Killed in the dead of night.'  
Ponsemby spat in Whitehall's face, causing him to quickly withdraw, and sit back in his chair.  
'Take him away!' The Baron ordered. Answering to his call, two unidentifiable figures dragged the once high and respected Lord off his knees and out of the main hall. Ponsembys legs were kicking as he was forcefully pulled out of the room. At that moment, the Doctor was running through the stone corridor, and ran past a double oak door. He stopped and ran back to the two doors. The two figures continued to pull the ragged man past the Doctor.  
Ponsemby shouted 'Help me! Help me please, I have done nothing!' to the Time Lord.  
The Doctor thought for a moment and walked calmly into the main hall towards the Baron.  
'And you are?' The Doctor asked.  
'I am Baron Whitehall, soon to be acting leader of this kingdom. And who exactly are you?' He spat.  
The Doctor shook his head and replied 'I am not important, but more to the point neither are you, this castle should not be ruled by you, this isn't how history goes.' The Doctor rambled.  
The Baron's face dropped, he stood up and clapped his hands twice. The two figures pulled the Doctor off his feet and took him out of the room.  
'I cannot afford any mistakes, and it is nothing personal, but you seem more interfering than the average scum who live here.' He then turned to the two figures and ordered 'Let him have the same fate as Ponsemby, but until tonight, throw him in the cell.'

Kate placed her cup of fine wine back on the wooden table and turned to the several knights seated beside her.  
'So what is all of the trouble that this castle has been having?' She asked.  
One man stood up and slid his cup along the table away from him; he wiped his long brown beard and exclaimed 'Many disappearances. Just a few moons ago, were my child and wife cruelly stolen from me!'  
The man then sat down and put his head in his hands. The two knights surrounding him comforted him for a while.

Lord Ponsemby sat in a corner of a cell. The cell was old, dark, cold and full of spider's webs. He had his hands around his knees and sat rocking himself to sleep in a dark corner. There was a faint noise from the entrance to the dungeon, the wooden door swung open. The Doctor, lifted by two figures was pulling and kicking to try and escape their grasp. The first figure unlocked a cell and held the door open while the other threw the Time Lord in. Unrealised by him, one of the figures held his sonic screwdriver and tucked it away. The Doctor landed flat on his bottom, before scrambling to his feet and rushed to the bars just as the door locked. Sat in the cell, the Doctor saw a man in the cell next to him; he sat down close to the man.  
'Hello, I am the Doctor, I saw you earlier. What are you in here for?' He asked.  
Ponsemby too introduced himself and explained how he had done nothing wrong, like the Doctor.  
'Listen' The 900 year old revealed 'I can get us out of here, long story, but we can escape.'  
'It's no use' the Lord sobbed, 'the Baron will hunt us down again one way or the other.'  
The Doctor shook his head in disagreement and was about to argue back, when he felt an empty space in his inside pocket, the space where his sonic screwdriver should have been. The Doctor fumbled, checking all of his pockets, and slumped down on the floor, continuing to talk to Ponsemby.

Gradually as darkness fell and a fierce storm began, more and more people began to go to shelter and go to their homes. Dirty water dripped rhythmically to the floor. Ponsemby and the Doctor were still in the cell, unable to escape, when they heard the main cell door open. At first, the light strained on the Doctors eyes, before he was able to adjust to the level of light. A large bald man, with a big brown bushy beard entered the room, holding a lantern. Quickly, the man unlocked Ponsembys cell, and tied his hands behind his back. The Doctor watched, and could not do anything to help, as he was dragged out and taken up the spiral staircase. As they disappeared from the Doctors view, Kate sneaked around the corner holding a pair of jangling keys. The Doctor and Kate said nothing as she tried to find the correct key to open his cage. Finally, the door was unlocked; Kate stood ready for a hug, when the Doctor pushed past her and ran up the stairs following the others. She stood for a minute, a bit hurt, and then ran after him.  
There was a strong wind, especially so high up, where the Doctor peeked from the top of the stairs, at Ponsemby being forced to the stone battlements. Surrounding the Lord, there were two men; both were well built and owned considerable facial hair. The first man lifted Ponsemby onto the slippery ledge and stepped back again. The second man took a blindfold and put it around their victim's eyes.  
The fat man teased in a low gruff voice 'Bye bye birdie' as he was about to push him.  
Suddenly the Doctor stood up and ran towards the first man, taking him to the floor and knocking him unconscious. He stood up now holding the man's dagger in his hand.  
'Now let him go.' The Doctor ordered in the most threatening voice that he could manage.  
The person laughed for a moment and with one hand, deliberately pushed Ponsemby from the ledge. His feet slid for a second, and then he fell all the way to the floor, the wind running through his hair. Upon impact with the floor, his body faded into the shadows.  
The fat man once again turned to the strange man in a bow tie and threatened 'Now what are you going to do sunshine?' in a terrifying tone.  
The Doctor stepped back and the dagger slipped from his grasp. He picked the Doctor up by the lapels of his jacket and held him over the edge. He was about to let go, when his eyes widened and the man asked 'Hang on, how did you escape from your cell in the first place?'  
The Doctor smiled and replied 'Put me back over there and I will tell you.'  
He dragged the Doctor closer and began to punch him fast and hard.  
Kate was fumbling around back in the dungeons for any kind of a weapon. All she could find was a loose large stone. She ran back up the stairs, and saw a large man holding the Doctor over the edge of the castle. Without taking a moment to think, she simply threw the stone at the man's head. When the stone hit his head, his eyes closed and he fell to the floor, dropping the Doctor. Kate gasped as she ran past the two unconscious men and saw the Doctor gripping onto the ledge with his bare hands. The ledge was slippery, and difficult for the Doctor to stay on. Kate held his hand and tried to pull him up. Slowly but surely, he was being pulled up again; he put his feet on the ledge and almost was out of harm's way. The first man stood up scratching his head, similar to a confused ape. He picked Kate up and launched her behind him, hitting hard on the stone. He picked the Doctor up this time, and dropped him. Again, the Doctor held on for his life from the ledge. His tweed coat flailed behind him, and his hair blew all over his face.  
The thug lunged at the Time Lords hands, trying to loosen his grip. However the Doctor stayed as firm as he could. He held on to the ledge with all his might and tried to pull himself up, when the brute backhanded him across the face, making the Doctor let go of the stone and fall.  
The tower from which the Doctor had been pushed was situated on a hill itself. He felt the wind flow through his hair, and saw his jacket flutter as he fell with increasing speed towards the ground. As he hit the floor, he bounced once or twice before rolling down the outside of the castle. He coughed twice and attempted to stand, realising that his left leg was broken, and he was unable to move. Without realising that just behind him was a large fall off a cliff towards a lake, he used one arm to push himself so that he was now leaning on his side. He took one step with his working leg, and slipped, plunging to his apparent doom. The aging Time Lord plunged into the ice cold water and was unable to swim to the surface without any reliable limbs. He tried pathetically to swim to the bank; however it was all too late. The Doctor ran out of air, and instinctively, he began to try to breathe, however only water entered his lungs. His eyes closed and his arms stilled, when an arm not belonging to himself held his hand and swam him to the surface. A few moments later, the Doctor was on the stone clustered bank of the lake. He was just lying, apparently lifeless, as the water brushed his feet. The Doctor coughed out the water from his lungs and looked up, his face bruised and battered. He saw a skinny man, in his 30s, with a scruffy hat on, and baggy trousers. The man took his coat off his seat and wrapped in around the Doctor.  
'Don't try and talk, my name is Howard, and I'm a fisherman, though it looks like I have caught more than a fish today. I saw you hit the water hard, so I jumped in and got you.'  
The Doctor looked up in thanks, and continued coughing.  
'Where…where is Kate?' He asked, as he remembered what had happened.  
Howard picked the Doctor up; he was stronger than he first appeared, and rested him on a blanket, and offered him a cup of wine.  
The Doctor took the wine to be polite, though he knew what would inevitably happen.  
'So what were you doing jumping into the lake like that? Howard asked, not realising the true events of the evening.  
The Doctor was explaining to him about how he had broken his leg, when he miraculously felt strength in it again. Either his leg wasn't broken, or the regenerative cycle had commenced. The 900 year old man stood up and looked at Howard, likewise Howard looked at him, just as astonished. He wiped his dripping hair out of his face, and shook Howard's hand. As the Doctor began to limp away, his body slowly rebuilding, he took a phone out of his pocket and rang his number one contact.

Kate was now sitting downstairs at a modest wooden table talking with Knight Washingley.  
'It was very lucky that you turned up just then Washingley.' Kate said gratefully.  
He nodded and glanced over to the two large men, now sitting in separate cells. Kate suddenly stood up, as she heard a buzzing noise; she had almost forgotten what a mobile phone was. She took it out of her pocket and answered. The Doctor told her to run as fast as she could towards the TARDIS.  
She put her phone in her pocket and thanked Washingley again before running into the courtyard, among the huts. She dodged the occasional chicken and barrels. Finally she reached a way out of the castle grounds. Kate did not even know what the panic was about, but she trusted the Doctor, she trusted her Doctor. She got a pain in her chest from all of the running, but yet she still continued to run towards the faint blue box in the distance.  
At last she reached the TARDIS and she leant against it, catching her breath. Unexpectedly, the door clicked open, and so she walked in suspiciously. Upon seeing the Doctor collapsing on the floor, she ran towards him. He was soaking wet, and was no longer wearing his bow tie or jacket. His face was cut and bruised, his hair scruffy. His clothes were slightly torn from the falls and also streaked with dirt and mud. Despite his unappealing features, she ran towards him.  
'Kate do not come near me, please. Remember when I first met you, with the dinosaurs in London, and with the Master; well he was a Time Lord like me. Time Lords can regenerate, which means if we are dying we can change all of the cells in our body. Therefore, every single thing about me will change. I know it is scary, but I beg you, please listen…because, trust me I am more scared than you could possibly imagine.' The Doctor reeled off before leaning, weak against the console. A tear dripped from his cheek and landed on the floor. Kate had never seen him so emotional before, so, ignoring his last order, she rushed to him and hugged him tight. For a few seconds they both shed a tear. She unwrapped her arms and kissed him meaningfully. Contrary to her expected reaction, the Doctor smiled.  
Feeling a pain, the Doctor pushed her away. His hand began to glow a golden colour.  
'Oh, and I never said: thank you, for saving me.' He said, as he wiped his hair out of his face for the last time and seemed to explode, as pure gold, glowing energy emitted from his head and hands.  
Kate shielded her eyes, and slowly watched the Doctor who she knew and trusted, change into a new man. His hair appeared to shrink back into his scalp, slowly stubble grew on his face and his chin became less prominent. His hair changed to a darker tone and became slightly taller. With a jolt, the new man emerged from the fading energy. He was still wearing the old clothes and still soaking wet.  
'Oh' the Doctor exclaimed, his voice now a slightly deeper and serious tone, 'Kate, are you okay?'  
Kate gulped and slowly walked forward towards the stranger. She looked into his now deep blue eyes.  
'Are you really still the Doctor?' Kate questioned.  
The Doctor nodded 'Yes I think so' as he smiled gently at her. 'I know how you are feeling, and trust me I have had enough experience. Now you won't trust me, allow me to prove myself to you.'  
Kate was listening and clearly still interested.  
'Now Kate, make your way back to the castle and ask around for Baron Whitehall. I will meet you there in half an hour.'  
She stood still for a minute and turned towards the door. She had just got used to the old Doctor, now she would need to get used to the new Doctor. 'By the way, you are a good kisser.' Kate cheekily said, testing his sense of humour.  
'Well Kate, let's hope I still am.' He teased as he trotted up one of the staircases.

As Kate closed the door behind her, she saw that it had begun to get light again, as it was now 7 o clock in the morning. She started her long walk back through the damp grass to the castle.  
Within 10 minutes, she was back inside the castle grounds, and so decided to look for the only person who she could at this point rely on. She entered Washingley's hut, to find it completely empty, and so made her way to the dungeons below, to see if he had fallen asleep there last night. As her feet clapped against the stone steps she could clearly see the Washingley was nowhere to be seen; and more importantly neither were the two brutal men that were locked up last night. There was a man scream a few floors up, that Kate could not mistake for anyone but Washingley's.

Meanwhile, the Doctor was still in his TARDIS, sitting on a chair in his wardrobe room, wearing nothing but a pair of trousers, a hat over his face and a singular sock… whilst asleep. There was all kinds of rubbish from previous adventures in this room, there was a Dalek eyestalk, a cuckoo clock, a fishing rod, a post box, a fish bowl, a remote control plane, a sword, a plate, and an unopened envelope just to name a few. Without warning the cuckoo clock opened and a bird flew out of it and disappeared into the TARDIS. It was a cuckoo clock from the year 2500, which used real birds. The noise created by the clock caused the Doctor to jump and lift a floppy hat from his face. He stood up and wiped his eye. He stumbled bare foot towards more coat stands, he had been changing clothes when he had decided that the chair looked particularly comfy. As he walked across the stands and rails, he picked up clothes and threw them behind him to the floor. When he saw something that he wanted, he stopped, with his eyes wide, and pulled out a plain white shirt and put it on, while continuing to walk. Over the next few minutes the Doctor had picked up and thrown down many things, he was now wearing a white shirt, a silver tie and some black trousers. He continued to select a grey waistcoat, embroidered with simple patterns and a black overcoat. With that he put on a golden ring and put his fob watch in his waistcoat pocket and selected a suitable staff. Finally he brushed back his hair. At last, happy with his choice of clothing, the Doctor ran back to the control room and fiddled with dials and threw levers until the engines came to a stop, and all the noise to be heard was the Doctors heavy breathing and the background humming of the TARDIS.

Kate walked up the steps as silently as possible and came to an oak door, there were voices inside, and where the screaming originated. She had an idea and ran down to get a cup and held it to the door. She could now certainly hear Washingleys voice, and the muffled voice of someone else. Yet again, there was a cry from Washingley. Kate threw open the door to find him surrounded by three blue glowing orbs. Upon realising Kate's arrival, they morphed one by one into the two thugs and another who she did not recognise.  
'You must be Baron Whitehall.' She deduced as he continued walking menacingly towards her.  
'Where is the…Time Lord?' He spat. 'We were at first planning to take over the throne one castle at a time, therefore taking command of Britain. Now there is a Time Lord close to regenerating, we can have enough power to live for another millennia. You are his friend, where is he, he must be close to regenerating now, surely.'  
Out of the shadows in the corner of the room, the Doctor stepped out. 'Actually' he explained, swinging his staff in one hand, 'You are too late, I have already regenerated. But, this is why you had to use primitive methods of killing, such as gravity isn't it, because you weren't strong enough, whereas, if you had harnessed my regeneration energy, killing me stone dead, then you would have had enough power to at least blow up this solar system. But right now however you are almost powerless, hence you having to resort to looking like humans.'  
Kate stood beside the Doctor and smiled at his bad dress sense.  
'So why are they threatening now if they have no power?' She asked.  
'Because Kate, even powerless they are dangerous, in the last half an hour they will have charged up enough power to kill an average human being. Which is why I can use my sonic screwdriver to stop them.' He explained, while fumbling in his pockets.  
'Aren't we forgetting something, we have your instrument here, and we may be powerless, but we still have enough power to do this' the Baron said as he snapped the stolen screwdriver in half and threw it to the floor.  
The Doctor tilted his head and frowned, pretending to be upset. 'Well I'm glad I had time to stop off on Vesperon 5 and get a new one.' The Doctor said as he flicked his new sonic screwdriver out and aimed it at the Baron. He held down the button and it glowed a red colour and echoed the buzzing noise.  
'Now you have a choice, let me help you, or I will stop you entirely' The Doctor threatened.  
'No' the Baron shouted. 'You will now pay, we have energy reserves, so we will leave now, but you will see us again Doctor!'  
'Kate, Washingley get down!' The Doctor cried as they turned into orbs and began to expand and buzz. As they disappeared, they sent a shockwave which knocked the Doctor to the ground. He stood up and brushed himself down, checking that the others were okay, and unharmed.

'Thank you Washingley, we do appreciate it.' The Doctor said as he left the castle with his staff tucked under one arm.  
'You're welcome' he called, 'just one thing, who are you, and where did that other fellow go?'  
The Doctor turned and smiled before saying 'let's just say that he left, I hope that I do as well as he did.'  
He turned back and continued to walk, linking arms with Kate back to the TARDIS.

'So' Kate asked, 'are you going to be changing your face a lot now?'  
The Doctor chuckled and answered 'No Kate, this is me from now on, forever, this is my last incarnation.'  
Kate stopped smiling and wondered 'Now your face has changed, will you want me to leave?'  
The Doctor in response stopped walking and passionately kissed Kate and continued to walk. Kate just stood for a moment, in a state of shock, before running to catch up with the Doctor.

Stephen Terrell and Holly Coulson  
23/12/11


End file.
